XP, down for the count?

re: XP, down for the count?

Kathryn Shannon — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:55:00 GMT

I retract all my irate comments posted a few days ago. This site, and Mike Bukowski, is extraordinarily helpful. I thank him and Dell for the direct troubleshooting assistance... and expert problem-solving he gave this Dell owner.

Now THIS quality is what I was looking for in Dell.. lol and got it!

Thank you Mike.

re: XP, down for the count?

jiimiona — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 12:22:48 GMT

your blog is getting better )

re: XP, down for the count?

DELL-Mike B — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:35:26 GMT

Thanks for taking the time to write about your experience, Kathryn. I've sent you an email about it.

re: XP, down for the count?

Kathryn Shannon — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:49:29 GMT

I purchased my Dell XP Pro December 2002. I bought a 4-year warranty, and of course was supplied with Office Suite as part of the XP Pro package.

In summer of 2006, my hard drive crashed. I lost material I was fool enough not to back up to CD... irreplaceable if I cannot find hard copies or can raid my 1997 IBM Aptiva which this Dell replaced.

At my own expense I had two new hard drives installed of 80 gigs each so that my work would have back-up capability without the CD drill. (Still looking for a program that would make word documents and more technical work product (websites/pages) back up automatically) All I needed were the XP Pro restore discs which I requested. Although still under warranty I didn't even consider requesting they replace the hard drives themselves.

Dell sent me Home, NOT Pro! There was no comparison!!! For one thing I am used to fielding as many as a dozen windows open at a time, working back and forth with them. When I opened a new site it went up in its own Window with Pro... with Home, it replaces a window I am currently working with. And I LOSE information I had in that window... a webpage usually, with information I wanted to utilize... OK.. I tinkered around that by creating a "new window" but if that is available with a setting I haven't learned about it.

They failed to send me Office Suite and I had NO MICROSOFT WORD which is the whole basis of my business! I finally bootlegged a 1997 Version Word... and trust me, it is primitive. And finally I bought a discounted Microsoft Works Suite to install.. ha! discounted cuz it was a 2006. Havent installed it cuz the computer is acting like it has periodic nervous breakdowns.. freezing, not getting emails to others and getting blank emails from people who message me. I am not a happy camper.

I spent hours, days, weeks, months.. with Dell's courteous "Support"... was promised the correct restore disks.. which never showed up.

Dell support is LOUSY. Although the outsourcing to India has at least impoved the manners and courtesy. The first, even the second level, support personnel are not trained adequately in computer science... they should know MORE than I do.. and I know nada! Tech stuff and all those things Mike Bukowski discussed mostly went over my head. (But, lol, Mike you are a good writer and I understood more than I expected!)

I am in the market for a new computer. Do I want Dell? Are you kidding? Do I want Vista? When pigs fly. I LIKE XP... it works for me, I know how to use it for my needs (editing manuscripts), and I am personally not interested in Videos. I prefer the intelligent written word.

So give me 25 good reasons why I should make my new computer Dell. They cheated me. Did not give me what I paid for. And no, i did not blame them for my hard drive crashing ... although I had three anti-malware programs running daily at the time and had at least two firewalls up. I just wanted to get my show on the road and I ate the cost of the new hard drives.. didnt even ask them for it

And can anyone tell me about the NEW XP program coming out now or soon supplanting Vista, and for XP lovers? I caught a headline (on the MSN home page) about it the other day and like a dimbot didnt interrupt my deadline to read it.

Finally, and actually, I would LIKE to buy a Dell.. has great sound box, and it has the 3 drives easy to access.. including the old 3-1/2" floppy for Drive A which I really must have.. I need to copy manuscripts from them to CD's at least.

Thank you for listening to a very amateur puter user compared to you folks. (Although I used the IBM Displaywriter in 1982 and have been a devotee of computer manuscript writing ever since.)

And I would buy IBM if I could afford them... surely they are not still proprietary? I couldn't add RAM memory over.. dig this... 64 megabytes... without buying a new computer.

re: XP, down for the count?

Simple 8 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:55:56 GMT

Dear Mr Dell,

Could you please do something about the parts department too?

re: XP, down for the count?

DELL-Mike B — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:29:30 GMT

Janie,

Can you email me your service tag information? Michael_bukowski@dell.com. I’ll be happy to see what I can do for you.

re: XP, down for the count?

Janie — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:10:11 GMT

Lee, don't hold your breath on any help from Dell! I am throughtly disgusted with this company! Have sent a certified, return receipt letter, with blow, by blow account of problems, and of course, it was transferred to India--no one in Texas can handle a custormer's problems. Top brass does not care about custormers. The answer after having replaced almost all parts on my laptop twice, is; "We can send you a refurbished computer." Well, if this laptop has given me so many problems, why on earth do I want Dell to send me a refurbished computer now!

All contact with Dell ends with, "Thank you for choosing Dell." Well, let me tell you this, I wish I had never heard of Dell! I don't want Dell to thank me again for sending me, a computer science professor, the piece of junk they sent to me. Good luck to all of you who purchase a computer from Dell--you'll need it!!!!

A Dell Customer who is sorry she ever heard of Dell!!!!!!!

re: XP, down for the count?

DELL-Mike B — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:38:49 GMT

Lee,

Thanks for leaving the comment. I've looked into your case and passed it along to a team that should be able to help you get everything squared away. I'm sorry about the bad experience, and hopefully it'll be over soon.

re: XP, down for the count?

Lee Chikafsky — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:21:00 GMT

The new Vista operating system is what it is, my question is why can't the Technical Support team re-install MS WinXP Media. I have an issue for the past 60+ days. Basically, I purchased the touted "Dell Data Bank" (two separate disc drives) with a RAID system. I was saddened when calling about the issue that no one on level one were aware. When escalated, a sub contracted tech came to my home and installed a replacement for the noisy defective drive, he made a second trip and reported all hardware was operating, yet NO ONE at Dell Tech Support (India) appears to know the ins and out of re-installing OP Sys and drivers, leaving me suspicious and discouraged.

This call was escalated to the Legal Department (not quite sure why) even they never returned my fax. A call this weekend from another call from another Resolution member left me totally bewilder when today he tells me my computer does not have RAID ( a lie). This comes from not reading the two months of notes, changes in Case numbers enough time to confuse even an attorney During this time a Sub equipped was shipped to my home, even my Sr Resolution rep knew nothing about it being sent. This vicious circle returns negititive results and my trust in a company that I have been a customer since 2001 has reduced to ashes because no one from Round Rock or Austin will contact me by email, phone or letter. Help me please, I am disabled, retired individual whose only crime was to trust Dell.

re: XP, down for the count?

DELL-Mike B — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:37:46 GMT

@Yet Another Editor

That would definitely be interesting approach to advancements in technology.